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**** http://www.GOANET.org ****
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The Rape of Goa - A photo documentary
by
Rajan P. Parrikar
Venue: Menezes Braganza Art Gallery, Panjim, May 21-24, 2008
http://www.parrikar.org/misc/doc-notice.pdf
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Roland Francis wrote:
> If the opposition desires to sell cheap produce by subsidising it from
> their own funds and the people are the beneficiaries, how would it
> constitute interference with freedom to buy and sell? Just like
> Venezuela selling cheaper gas through their CITGO chain to poor
> American neighborhoods. Vive le consumer !
Roland,
There is a sign in my favourite pub that says, "We have an agreement with the
bank. They agreed not to sell beers and we have agreed not to extend
credit." Similary, when you have political parties running grocery stores, you
are in trouble. Deep trouble. Let me tell you why. When the farmer cannot get a
good (notice I have used good, not fair) price for his wheat, he switches to a
crop like soy beans whose price is not controlled by the political parties. The
following year, you wind up with less production of wheat and people forced to
buy it on the black market. Secondly, thank you for bringing up Chavez. Surely
you recognize that his actions are the ultimate in price madness. Not only does
he want to control the price of oil in his country, he also wants to control
the price of petrol in the US ;-)
> These people would have been aware before taking loans from financial
> institutions that they could not afford to buy these homes. If loans
> were taken by someone who has no power to repay should they have taken
> them just because they were offered? Nobody was "coerced" into buying
> anything. Tempted yes, coerced no. Both lender and borrower are paying
> the resultant dues.
The reality is that the new US home owner is facing bankruptcy. The US
Govt's response to this is to give money to the financial institutions and make
it harder for individuals to declare personal bankruptcy.
> Are you saying Americans who go to Goa cannot afford fish ???
No, Roland. I said, "The people who earn in US dollars suddenly find seafood
beyond their affordability." I hope this is now clear. You would not have gone
thru all this angst if you realized that I have used the word "Goan" when I
want to refer to the situation in Goa.
> Are you saying Indian seafood exporters paid in USD are not hedging
> their sell contracts ? You seem to have an unjustified and poor
> opinion of Indian businessmen who survived India's licence raj and all
> other hurdles put their way. Business and hedging are not the monopoly
> of the West.
I have worked for Indian businessmen half my life ;-) I am in awe of their
success. I don't know where you are extrapolating your impressions from.
> Who determines what is a high value? My uncle told me I paid too much
> when I bought land in Margao at Rs 19 a sq mt. in my Gulf days. Are
> Goa's land values high today in the context of 10 years into the
> future? Was Dow Jones high when it hit 6000 in 1996 ? Was gold low
> when Santosh created bought into it at the 1,000 dollars an ounce
> level a few months ago on your forecast on Goanet that it would go
> higher ?
1) If I have understood this correctly, are you comparing the 12 YEAR
performance of real estate and the Dow Jones index to the 12 WEEK performance
of gold?
2) To answer your question of "Who determines what is a high value?" let me
explain it this way. This morning you could have bought one barrel of oil at
any price between $135.07 and $130.07. When you compare the price paid for
the same product, on the same day, it is relatively easy (at least for me) to
determine which is the high value trade.
3) Lastly, I bought gold at $280. As long as the US govt keeps on spending more
than it earns, the value of the US dollar will go down and the price of gold
will go up. In this regard, I am donating to the Republican party, betting that
four years of McSame will do wonders for gold.
Mervyn3.0
"...first ascertain exactly the position of the various capitalists, then
control them, influence them by restricting or enlarging, facilitating or
hindering their credits, and finally they can entirely determine their fate."
- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -
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